Unlike PV solar panels, wind turbine generators do not scale downwards well. While large wind turbines can generate huge quanties of electricity very efficiently and relatively cheaply, as the size of the wind turbine is reduced, efficiency reduces and cost per Watt power jumps enormously.
Windbelt offers an alternative for small scale wind power generation dispensing with the turbine altogether while producing power at a (claimed) efficiency of 10-30 times greater than that of a similarly rated wind turbine.
Windbelt is an innovation of Shawn Frayne who developed a simple device with a taut Mylar membrane fitted with a pair of Neodymium magnets that oscillate in and out of coils of magnet wire because of the mechanical resonance of the taut membrane with wind blowing across it. At wind speeds of 10 mph, the prototype membrane oscillates at 90-100hz - i.e. the magnets move in and out of the coils 90-100 times per second.
The current Windbelt prototype will generate electricity in winds over 4mph and at attack angles of up to 60 degrees. As the wind speed increases from 4 to 14 mph, the power ouput increases at a rate close to a cube of the increase in wind speed. At windspeeds above 14 mph however the power output becomes constant.
Windbelt offers an alternative for small scale wind power generation dispensing with the turbine altogether while producing power at a (claimed) efficiency of 10-30 times greater than that of a similarly rated wind turbine.
Windbelt is an innovation of Shawn Frayne who developed a simple device with a taut Mylar membrane fitted with a pair of Neodymium magnets that oscillate in and out of coils of magnet wire because of the mechanical resonance of the taut membrane with wind blowing across it. At wind speeds of 10 mph, the prototype membrane oscillates at 90-100hz - i.e. the magnets move in and out of the coils 90-100 times per second.
The current Windbelt prototype will generate electricity in winds over 4mph and at attack angles of up to 60 degrees. As the wind speed increases from 4 to 14 mph, the power ouput increases at a rate close to a cube of the increase in wind speed. At windspeeds above 14 mph however the power output becomes constant.
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